National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden has thanked Russia for giving him asylum and criticized the Obama administration as showing "no respect" for the law.
Fugitive former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden slipped quietly out of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport, after Russia granted him temporary asylum, ending more than a month in limbo in the transit area. Russia has said it would not hand over Snowden to the United States, where he is wanted on espionage charges after leaking details of secret government surveillance programs. The case has further strained ties between Washington and Moscow.
National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden left the transit zone of a Moscow airport and officially entered Russia after authorities granted him asylum for a year, his lawyer said, a move that suggests the Kremlin isn't shying away from further conflict with the United States.